Milk yield as a factor of somatic cell account and mastitis

High yielding lactating cows seem to have a higher incidence of production diseases in general including mastitis, that is the main view yet. There can be found a high number of journal papers and proceedings picking this topic out as a central theme. The results and views of the authors could not be more different. The Clinic for Ruminants and Pigs of the Freie Universitat Berlin introduced a database in 1995. It contains 3925 sets (until 2010) of 743 visits on 489 farms in 6 federal countries of Germany. These visits took place by request of the farms. An anamnestic survey of herd specific data like milk yield and fertility as well as possible herd problems was made and samples of blood, urine, hair and feed have been taken. Furthermore back fat thickness was measured. To answer the question which parameters (year, region, herd size, milk yield) influence the udder health, the database was analysed on possibly relations. The somatic cell count in milk differs within the years significantly, but never shows a certain direction. The geographic region of dairy heal is significantly associated with the somatic cell count too. Furthermore it was fond that bigger herds show lower levels of somatic cell count in milk, but in the anamnesis the herd's men state more frequently mastitis as a herd problem. Higher milk yield is significantly associated with lower somatic cell count and lower incidence of mastitis. To sum up, this study comes to the conclusion, that a high milk yield cannot be classified neither as the only nor as a strong risk factor for a poor udder health. In fact, healthy herds have higher milk yields. Obviously environmental factors take a more essential influence on udder health.